The Fish Tale Restaurant in Long Beach set to close this summer

Long Beach 4th Distict Councilman incumbent Patrick O'Donnell relaxes with friends and supporters at his election night party at Fish Tale. The restaurant has announced plans to close on Aug. 1, 2014. File photo. June 5, 2012. (Scott Varley / Staff Photographer)

LONG BEACH >> The Fish Tale Restaurant, a well-known eatery in the city’s Los Altos neighborhood, is scheduled to close this summer and be succeeded by another local restaurant.

In business since November 1977, The Fish Tale, on Britton Drive just east of Bellflower Boulevard, is the oldest seafood restaurant operating in Long Beach, said co-owner Jerry Bloeser, who owns the restaurant with his brother John.

The Fish Tale is set to close Aug. 1. The Bloeser brothers plan to lease the space to E.J. Malloy’s, a restaurant that is in business at two locations in Long Beach.

Jerry and John Bloeser are 71 and 74 years old, respectively. The brothers are not yet retiring but plan to concentrate on their other business, John Bloeser Carpet One.

“We are still very busy, but it’s time to slow down a bit,” Bloeser said.

Bloeser said his favorite aspect of owning a restaurant was interacting with diners.

“It’s meeting friends and making people happy,” he said.

The Fish Tale has nearly 50 employees. Bloeser and E.J. Malloy’s owner Blake Brakebill said those employees are set to be retained when the switch happens.

“Our biggest demand was our people, meaning we didn’t want to walk away and leave people without a job,” Bloeser said.

E.J. Malloy’s, which is an Irish-style pub and restaurant, is in Belmont Heights and Bixby Knolls. The opportunity for a third restaurant in Los Altos appeared shortly after Brakebill bought a house near The Fish Tale’s location.